Clockwork's Apprentice
by JamieLynnPhantom
Summary: I gasped as the icy feeling spread through my limbs. Electricity coursed through my entire body as my eyes rolled back into my head. My vision spun, but I did get a good look at who caused this. The Red Huntress, one of my worst enemies. Also known as Valerie Grey, one of my best friends. Confusing, right? Let me back up a little bit…
1. Chapter 1

**Just a little headcannon... Tell me what you think! More coming up! I added Sam's POV because there was more information that needed to be added, that Danny couldn't possibly know.**

Chapter 1

I gasped as the icy feeling spread through my limbs. Electricity coursed through my entire body as my eyes rolled back into my head. My vision spun, but I did get a good look at who caused this. The Red Huntress, one of my worst enemies. Also known as Valerie Grey, one of my best friends. Confusing, right? Let me back up a little bit…

_I sighed as my ghost sense went off.' _This better not be the Box Ghost'_, I thought. I stood up from the table that I was sitting at in the mall cafeteria. I nodded my head to Sam and Tuck, my two best friends. They rolled their eyes and shooed me away as I ran to the restroom, praying it was empty. It was, luckily. I darted into a stall and transformed into my ghost half, the infamous Danny Phantom. See, I'm half-ghost. My parents are world-renowned ghost hunters and scientists, Jack and Maddie Fenton. In the beginning of my freshman year, I got into an accident in one of their inventions, a portal the Ghost Zone. Since then, I've turned myself into the teenage superhero of Amity Park, my home town. I've had many adventures with my friends and sister, the only people besides my ghostly enemies who know who I am. Little did I know that all that was about to end._

_But I'm getting ahead of myself. I flew out of the restroom and searched the mall with darting eyes. The people looked up at me excitedly, then turned wary, looking around themselves. They seemed to have finally grasped that I only show up when a ghost is around. '_Good for them,'_ I snorted to myself. I looked around, my ghost sense leading me to a sports supplies store. _

_'_Great. Skulker.'

_I shook my head in exasperation and dived into the store. I was met with the sound of screaming people. I followed the sound to the hunting section. '_Duh_.' Skulker had a group of people cornered, threatening to test his new weapons on them. Time for me to interfere._

_"I thought that was my job, metal head." I called out. Skulker turned towards me, an evil grin growing on his face. _

_"Well, if it isn't the halfa." He jeered. I felt myself tense at the name. I narrowed my eyes, waiting for him to attack. But he never did. Instead, I felt a blast in the back. I jerked, spinning to find myself face-to-face with the Red Huntress. I sighed in exasperation._

_"Listen, in case you didn't notice, I'm kind of busy right now Val. Give me ten minutes and then you can try to destroy me to your hearts content."_

_She apparently didn't find that funny, because she shot me in the chest with a new weapon. An ordinary looking bullet flew out of the not-so-ordinary weapon the second she pulled the trigger. I heard a horrible snapping as it cracked my ribs. I felt like I was punched, and all the air flew out of my lungs. Shaky hands grasped the wound as my head spun from lack of oxygen. Then the real pain started. Electricity coursed through my veins. I could see sparks light up my skin and my hair stood on end. If I could have seen my own eyes, they would have been glowing with a bright white light. I screamed. The shoppers in the store looked horrified. Even Skulker looked concerned, whether for me or himself, I'm not sure. Valerie smirked in triumph under her helmet. Black spots covered my vision, and I screamed louder. People ran into the store, looking for the source of the sound, but stopped when they saw me. Their eyes widened in fright. I gasped for breath as ice spread through my veins. Which brings us to now…_

I fell to the floor of the store, writhing in pain. Strangely, I wasn't bleeding. Maybe the bullet had something that prevented it, or maybe the electricity was blocking it. A few random shoppers started to step forward trying to help, but stopped in fright as my transformation rings appeared. I tried to stop them, to pull them back in, but I couldn't. Valerie gasped as she recognized the bright lights, pulling out another gun and aiming at me. I felt my eyes start to close as I transformed. Everyone gasped once they realized that their hero was really a trouble student. I vaguely heard screaming, I think it was Sam and Tucker. I continued to scream myself. Then, I was shot in the chest again, and I felt myself vanish from existence.

Sam's POV

A shot rang out above Danny's screams, and he fell silent. As everyone watched, his body broke done and evaporated, almost like something out of a movie. Valerie's gun fell to the floor. Even Skulker looked shaken. I ran forward to kneel beside where Danny had just been, with Tucker following me. Suddenly, I realized that Skulker had shot him the second time. "Why?" I choked out. I looked at Skulker.

"I cannot stand watching even my prey suffer. I may be a hunter, but I do have a heart." He whispered, still wide-eyed in shock. I turned my teary eyes towards Valerie. She looked just as horrified.

"My employer gave me this gun. He told me it was just a simple ecto-pistol. He didn't tell me it would do _that_. And I had no clue he was a halfa… Oh God, what have I done?"

I whipped around and grabbed Tucker's backpack, pulling him off his feet. Digging through it, I found what I was looking for. The Booomerang. We always kept it with us in case Danny suddenly disappeared.

"Find Danny!" I tossed it in the air, but it fell to the ground. It didn't even light up. My shoulders slumped as I realized what this meant. I started to sob, quietly of course. Tucker, looking hollow, slowly sat down next to me, breathing heavily in an effort to keep from crying. It shook me to the core, realizing that my friend was gone.

That he was dead.

* * *

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking to clear my vision. '_Where am I_?' I thought, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings. I was in a bed, in what looked like a hospital room. But there were no medical supplies, which told me that it wasn't. The walls were pure white, as were the sheets on the bed. The lights on the ceiling were blindingly bright. I squinted and turned my head to the side. A small bedside table sat there, with a small piece of paper on it. I picked up the paper, looking at it curiously. I recognized Clockwork's writing.

_Daniel,_

_I regret to inform you that you have been killed and are now full ghost. I will leave you to come to terms with this, but if you need to talk you must simply walk downstairs. You are currently in a free room in my tower. You are welcome to join me whenever you are ready. I will be in the main room._

CW

I stared at the paper in shock. Memories flooded me and I dropped the paper to the floor. The pain, the light… all the shocked stares. I stared at the floor as tears slipped down my cheeks. Not only am I dead, my secret was revealed too. Sam, Tucker, Jazz… my parents. How would they deal with this? I was gone, and they knew it.

I sighed and hung my head. There was nothing that could be done about it, so I might as well get over it. I blinked away the tears and stood up, and, taking a deep breath, started out the door to the main room.

I slowly walked down the stairs, aware of every footstep, every echo. My head spun in shock of this new information as I entered the main room.

"Hello Daniel." Clockwork called out. I looked around and found him in the far corner of the room. I gave a curt nod and sat down on the couch, once again staring at the floor.

"I wasn't expecting you to be down here this soon. I am going to have a guest for a few minutes, how about you go get changed so they won't recognize you?" he asked, raising his hand. I watched in amazement as energy swirled above his palm for a moment, before materializing into something else. Clothes. He held them out to me, and I took them gently, as if they were made of glass. He nodded towards the stairs and I slowly walked back to the room I had woken up in.

I looked around briefly, taking in every detail. The room wasn't small, but at the same time it wasn't big. It was about the size of a classroom, in all honesty. The small bedside table that I had noticed before, I could now see was made of black wood. The ceiling and walls were still blindingly white, but I hadn't expected that to change. There was a small closet opposite the bed and another next to it that I assumed was the bathroom. A large desk sat in the corner, as well as a packed bookshelf. On the desk were a small stereo and a laptop. This shocked me. I didn't know the Ghost Zone had internet.

I shook away the thought for now and gripped the clothes tighter before walking the bathroom. A large clear glass shower sat in one corner, and a toilet and sink in the other.

A thought occurred to me and I stopped before fully entering the bathroom. I know what I look like as a human and a halfa, but would I look different as a full ghost? Only one way to find out. I took a deep unnecessary breath, bracing myself both mentally and physically for what I might see. I then phased through the bathroom door and slowly turned towards the mirror, my eyes closed. I took another breath, and opened my eyes, before stumbling back in shock.  
My once blue eyes were now a mixture of blue and green. Not hazel, but the top right diagonal was neon green, and the bottom left diagonal faded into a sky blue. My skin was also extremely pale, almost white, where before I had been a light tan. My hair was white, save for the tips. Those were black.

I blinked a few times, before turning away and getting dressed. Clockwork had given me a strange outfit to say the least. It consisted of a black sleeveless turtleneck, jeans, and fingerless gloves, and a dark gray belt, sleeved cloak, and combat boots. There was a small black pouch tied to my belt, but for some reason it wouldn't open. I glanced back up, taking in my appearance. Sam would have been proud. I stared at myself in the mirror for a moment, then turned and walked out.

Clockwork glanced up from his viewing screen as I came down the stairs. "Well?" he asked expectantly.

"Are you goth or something?" was my only reply.

Clockwork chuckled and turned back to the viewing screen, gesturing for me to sit down. Instead, I walked up to him. "So, what now?" He turned back to me and smiled gently, the timeline disappearing from the screen behind him before I could look at it. He floated over to the couch, beckoning for me to follow. He sat down on one end of the couch, and I sat on the other. Then I remembered something.

"Oh, yeah! Why won't this pouch open?" I asked. Clockwork chuckled once more in response before answering.

"It will only open once you truly need it." He said cryptically. I rolled my eyes before staring at the ceiling. If my mind wasn't in such a state of shock, I would have pressed for more information. But at the moment, I couldn't.

I was _dead_. I knew partially what death felt like, being a half ghost and all, but I didn't expect to die completely at 15. And at the hands – or rather, weapon – of one of my best friends. I tried to ignore the thought, but it kept digging itself back up no matter how many other thoughts I buried it under.

I heard an engine die outside the tower and blinked in surprise. _Oh yeah. Clockwork said he was going to have visitors._ "So, Clocky, who are your visitors?" I asked him.

He suddenly looked uncomfortable, which startled me for two reasons: One, he has never shown _any_ emotion besides humor, that I'm aware of. Two, if _Clockwork_ looks nervous, what would that mean for me?

He never answered my question, instead floating to the door and opening it as a pounding knock resounded throughout the tower. Five people stumbled in, and I gasped as I recognized them.

I stared wide-eyed at Clockwork's visitors. My family.

I felt my breath hitch, not that I needed it anyway. If I still had a heartbeat, it would be pounding in fear. My parents are ghost hunters, what would they do now that they know I'm a ghost? I started to shrink back into my seat, trying to make myself as small as possible. Going invisible completely slipped my mind, but it certainly would have helped.

I watched as Clockwork talked to them for a few minutes.

"Please Clockwork! You have to change this! This can't happen!" Sam pleaded.

"I'm afraid I cannot, Samantha. But you can see him."

_Shit._ I froze, and my eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. There was a silence in the room. Sighing inwardly, I stood up and slowly walked towards them.

"…What?"

That was Jazz this time. It pained me to hear her like this, so upset. Her clothes were rumpled as if she had slept in them, and her eyes were rimmed with red. She looked over Clockwork's shoulder at the sound of my footsteps, and I gave her a sad smile.

I jumped as her, Sam, and Tucker all ran straight at me, tackling me to the ground. My parents just stared at me sadly.

After a moment, I phased out of the grips of my sister and friends, and walked gently towards my parents, grinning nervously. I was one yard away from them, when I suddenly phased through the floor. _What the…?_

I floated back up through the floor, where everyone stared at me in confusion. Everyone, might I add, except Clockwork. I turned towards him, annoyed and shocked.

"What was that?" I asked him. He got a strange look on his face, as if he were deciding whether or not to tell me. I sent him my best glare, the one I gave to the Box Ghost when he approached me on a bad day. He finally caved in.

"As you are now a full ghost instead of a halfa, your powers are going to act the same way they did when you first gained them." he stated simply.

My shoulders sagged as I stared at him in disbelief. "So, all that time spent getting my powers under control, and I have to just turn around and go through that again?"

My friends sent me a sympathetic look, while Jazz and my parents watched in confusion. They didn't know how hard of a time I had had those first few months. They probably thought it was easy. After all, they hadn't discovered my secret.

I growled in annoyance, before sighing and turning back to my parents. I watched them nervously as they slowly stepped towards me. I saw my friends get into a battle stance out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored them. My gut instinct was to flee, but I stayed where I was.

They stepped closer, and I could hear the pounding of my nonexistent heartbeat in my ears. I could feel the ectoplasm rush from my head, and I tried to keep from hyperventilating, which was hard even though I don't need to breathe.

They stopped one foot away from me with tears in their eyes. I was shaking in fear but I knew Clockwork wouldn't let them hurt me.

My mothers hand reached out, and I closed my eyes. They snapped open again when I felt her rub her hand through my hair. I slowly turned my gaze up to her face, and saw tear stains running down her cheeks. My eyes flickered over to my dad, and saw the same thing. My normally happy and jovial parents were now wallowing in tears and depression. It brought tears to my own eyes. My gaze lowered to the floor before widening in surprise when both my parents pulled me into a hug. I would have suffocated from the strength of it if I wasn't a ghost.

"D-danny…" my mother sobbed, "Why didn't you tell us?"

The guilt I had always felt from not telling anyone my secret reared its ugly head again. I winced and turned away, causing my mother to cry more.

"Maybe I can help with that."

Everyone turned to stare at Clockwork. He was actually offering to help me? Usually I had to pry it out of him.

"Alright, CW. What's the catch? You _never_ offer to help." I said, my eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Clockwork laughed. A full out laugh.

"Well, I figured I could both explain what happened and embarrass you at the same time by showing them what happened."

My cheeks flushed and my parents stared at me. I knew it was because my cheeks were green. They had done that when I flushed in ghost form as a Halfa, so why not as a full ghost?

I phased through my parents grips, making them flinch, and zipped to float in front of Clockwork, staring him in the eyes. A small amused smile graced his lips.

Everyone watched us in silence. My parents finally opened their mouths to say something, but they were stopped by Sam. The silence continued.

My eyes reflected back out of Clockwork's, and I noticed something I hadn't before. With a jolt of sadness, I realized that my pupils were now cat-like, almond shaped and narrow.

I sighed and floated down to the floor. "Fine."

Clockwork smirked and twirled his staff, and with a flash of light we were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**So, in case you haven't noticed, I've edited this story. The first 3 chapters go into one, and 4 and 5 have been replaced with this one. It was really bothering me, the way it was. ^^; THIS IS NOT A NEW CHAPTER!**

* * *

Chapter 4

The first thing I noticed after the light disappeared was the tables. I looked around, realizing that we were in the lab. Even though my gut told me I didn't want to know, I spun on my heel and looked at the calendar. I felt the blood- err, ectoplasm- rush from my face. I stumbled backwards, shaking. Everyone looked up at me at the noise.

Sam and Tucker ran up to me before noticing the date. They shared a glance and slowly lowered me to the ground in a sitting position. Tucker kneeled next to me, while Sam spun to face Clockwork.

"Clockwork, this isn't fair to make Danny see this!" she shouted. Clockwork simply raised a finger to his lips, telling us to be quiet.

A moment later we found out why.

"Come on, Danny! I want to see it!" It was Sam's voice, but she hadn't spoken. She ran over to me and sat down on my other side rubbing my back, but my mind was too numb to notice.

Clockwork waved his staff again, turning us all invisible to the human eye. "Now you may talk, but try to pay attention. We are unable to be seen, heard or felt."

Jazz and my parents gasped as 14 year-old versions of Sam, Tucker and I tiptoed down the stairs. Past-me stopped in the middle of the room and looked around wearily as Past-Sam and Past-Tucker stared at all of the equipment in amazement, before their eyes rested on the portal.

"Alright guys, I've shown you the portal, now can we _please_ get out of here? We're not supposed to be down here."

Past-Sam turned and stared at Past-me incredulously. "C'mon Danny. A portal to another dimension? You can't tell me you're not curious."

Past-me rolled his eyes. "Well duh. I _am_ curious Sam, but it doesn't work anyway."

"Then it's safe for you to go inside and take a look."

My parents gasped, and Jazz's eyes widened as she realized what was going on. She slowly walked over to me and hugged me from behind, ruffling her hand through my hair.

Past-me blinked. "What?'

Sighing, Past-Sam tossed him a black-and-white jumpsuit and nodded towards the portal. "Go on. I want a picture."

Past-me turned to Past-Tucker for guidance, but he was continuing to look around like a kid in a candy store. Shaking his head, Past-me pulled the jumpsuit on over his clothes and walked to the portal, looking thoroughly annoyed. Past-Sam snapped a picture, and I knew what happened next from memory. I snapped my eyes shut and ducked my head, startling Jazz.

_Right after Sam had taken the picture, I noticed something inside the portal. It looked like a button. "Wha…?" I stepped into the portal to take a closer look when my foot caught on some wires. "Ah, crap."_

_"Need help Danny?" Sam asked._

_"Nah, I got it." Turning, I leaned down to untangle the wires, only for my other foot to get caught as well. I yelped as I fell backwards, my arms reaching out to break my fall. My right hand hit the wall, and I heard a click. Electrical buzzing filled the air, and Sam and Tucker called out in alarm. Seeing the invention light up, I scrambled to my feet to run out, only to trip again from the wires still tied around my feet. Panicking, I jerked my feet around, trying to get free but only resulting in entangling myself more._

_Then the electricity hit me._

_I screamed bloody murder, and Sam and Tucker joined in, shrieking my name. I felt as if I was on fire, and every cell burned. I felt myself start to drift away, the pain numbing. And then the electricity snapped the wires and I fell out of the portal. The machine died down, and I passed out on the floor, Sam and Tucker still screaming my name._

I had seen this all in the back of my mind, and the sound from the memory we were in didn't help my mental standing. I continued to shake, curled up in a ball on the floor. By this point, tears were threatening to slip out of my eyes, and Sam, Tuck, and Jazz were hugging me tightly. My parents looked on the verge of tears themselves.

The scene changed. We were now in the halls of Casper High, and Past-Sam, Past-Tuck, and Past-me were walking up the stairs, whispering about something. As they got closer, we could hear them clearer.

"Guys, I think I should tell them."

"Why? Parents don't listen. Even worse, they don't understand. Why can't they accept me for who I am?!" Past-Sam flung her head back, her fists by her sides as she yelled.

Past-me stared at her. "Sam, I'm talking about my powers. My problems."

Past-Sam smiled sheepishly. "Oh right. Me too."

Ignoring her, Past-me continued talking. "It's been almost a month since the accident and I still have barely any control. If someone catches me I go from geek to freak around here." He said, not noticing that he was phased halfway through the floor.

"Kind of like what you're doing now?" Past-Tucker asked.

Glancing down, Past-me yelled. His friends pulled him up and he started to walk away, grumbling. "Oh, darn it! If my dad can make something that turns me half ghost, why can't he make something that turns me human again?"

Past-Sam caught up to him as he walked through a vending machine.

"Danny, your powers make you unique. Unique is good. That's why I'm an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian." she said proudly.

"Which means what?" Past-Tucker asked, looking confused and uninterested.

Past-me turned to him with a bored expression. "She doesn't eat anything with a face."

"Ah, who cares about that stuff? Two words: meat connoisseur." He leaned towards his friend, who leaned back. "Last night, you had sloppy joes."

Past-me had an expression of disgusted humor, and replied, "Impressive."

"Meat heightens the senses. And my all meat streak is 14 years strong."

"And it's about to end," Past-Sam interrupted. "The school board agreed to try a new cafeteria menu. I wore them down."

"Wait. What'd you do?"

The scene changed again. We were at the cafeteria during lunch. My parents and Jazz searched for us while Sam, Tucker and I all turned to look at the line. I had stopped crying by now, and so had my parents. I still felt shaky from having to relive _that_, but I pushed it away.

"What is this? Grass on a bun?"

At the sound of my past self's voice, Jazz and my parents followed our gaze. We watched the fights, both food and ghost varieties, and the rest of that day. By the time it was over, I realized Clockwork had accomplished both of his goals. He had explained to my parents, and shown them what happened. And he had embarrassed me by letting them watch my first fight. I winced when I realized how sloppy and childish I was back then.

My parents were no longer looking at me with hurt in their eyes, but instead pride. I weakly grinned back at them, and with another twirl of his staff, Clockwork transported us back to his tower.

* * *

I was tackled to the ground the second I rematerialized in the Clock Tower. I yelped when I suddenly found myself flat on my stomach with my arms pinned behind my back. My parents and Jazz looked alarmed, but Sam, Tuck, and Clockwork all looked amused, as if they were sharing some inside joke.

"I know the rest of these people, but who are you?" a voice growled menacingly.

I almost laughed when I recognized the voice, but stopped myself in fear that I would get hurt. Instead I relaxed and turned my head to the side. "Hey cuz."  
Dani gasped and jumped back, letting go of my arms. I sat up and turned around to face her, an amused smile on my lips, until she tackled me again. I sat with my arms by my sides as she pulled me into a tight hug. On instinct, I stopped moving. My body froze up and my eyes widened, almost glazing over. The next second, I had flipped her over my shoulder and had her pinned down with one hand and the other pulled back to strike. Everyone, except Clockwork of course, gasped, bringing me back to my senses. I blinked and my mind cleared. Looking down, I realized what had happened and scrambled back. _Crap._ Blushing, I sat cross-legged a few feet away from everyone.

Dani blinked in confusion. "What just happened?"

My face flushed more and I reached up to rub the back of my neck. I looked up to Clockwork pleadingly.

He sighed. "Fine. This is a part of Daniel's powers rebooting. Samantha, Tucker, I am sure you remember the first few months after the accident? Of course, it wasn't to this extent."

Understanding dawned on my friends faces. "Oh," Tucker said. "I remember now! His instincts were fighting against each other, so whenever someone touched him, his mind thought it was a threat! …But why would that happen again? His human instincts aren't going to be conflicting with his ghost instincts now."

Clockwork nodded. "True. But his ghost form was meant to fight and protect, and he has carried that with him into death. And as his instincts no longer have to fight, his ghost instincts are overwhelmed, making them a little more pronounced." He turned to me. "You were able to train yourself out of it last time, and you can again. It will just take more time."

I nodded, still blushing a little.

"But… he didn't react that way when I pinned him…" Dani said, confusion evident on her face.

Clockwork nodded again. "Since he has been trained out of it before, they won't always react like that this time around. It will be unpredictable, but I believe you will be able to handle it."

I nodded again, averting my gaze to the wall. Everyone was still staring at me. Suddenly, I felt extremely exhausted. My shoulders sagged, and I barely held back a yawn. I internally sighed when I recognized this as part of my powers rebooting. Dang it.

My eyelids started to droop as I looked up to Clockwork. He simply stared back with a mixture of pity and amusement, before turning to my family and friends. "With Daniel's powers recharging, he has overexerted himself. I believe that it is time for you to leave."

Sam opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "You will see him again; you do not need to worry. In fact, I believe the soonest you will see him is in about two weeks."

No one seemed satisfied with having to wait that long, but we all gave in. It's not like we could fight him.

And so they left.

I watched them go, before fainting onto the floor. I vaguely felt Clockwork pick me up and carry me back into my new room.


End file.
